ELA 30 — Learning Goals (I Can Statements)

UNIT 1: Foundations — Identity, Culture, and Process (Lessons 1–5)

Lesson 1: Reading Yourself: Identity and Interpretation

Outcomes: ELA30.4, ELA30.1

I can explain how my own experiences, background, and values shape the way I read and interpret a text. I can write a piece that draws on my personal context to give my voice a clear sense of where I am coming from.

Lesson 2: Whose Story Is This? Cultural Narratives and Oral Tradition

Outcomes: ELA30.3, ELA30.1

I can identify the specific cultural teachings and values carried in an oral story or narrative. I can explain how that story challenges pan-Indigenous or pan-cultural assumptions by being rooted in a particular community and place.

Lesson 3: How to Read Like a Writer

Outcomes: ELA30.11, ELA30.12

I can use annotation and close reading strategies to track how a text works — what the writer is doing and why. I can apply what I notice to make more intentional decisions in my own writing process.

Lesson 4: Showing, Not Telling: Imagery and the Descriptive Mode

Outcomes: ELA30.7, ELA30.8, ELA30.10

I can identify how a writer uses sensory detail and imagery to create atmosphere and evoke emotion in descriptive writing. I can use those same techniques deliberately in my own piece to create a specific feeling or place for a reader.

Lesson 5: The Shape of a Story: Narrative Structure

Outcomes: ELA30.7, ELA30.9, ELA30.1

I can analyze how an author structures a narrative, including choices about pacing, conflict, and sequence, and explain how those choices shape the meaning and impact of the story. I can identify moments where a writer follows or deliberately breaks conventional story structure.

UNIT 2: Story, Form, and Craft (Lessons 6–10)

Lesson 6: Character, Conflict, and the Full-Length Text

Outcomes: ELA30.1, ELA30.9

I can read and analyze a full-length fiction text by examining how the author builds character and conflict to reflect or challenge a worldview. I can support my interpretation with specific, varied evidence from the text.

Lesson 7: The Architecture of a Poem

Outcomes: ELA30.7, ELA30.8, ELA30.10

I can identify how a poet uses line breaks, rhythm, stanza structure, and sound devices to shape meaning and emotion. I can experiment with those same tools in an original poem and explain the choices I made.

Lesson 8: Voice and Tone

Outcomes: ELA30.9, ELA30.10, ELA30.2

I can analyze how an author constructs a distinctive voice and tone through specific word choices, sentence rhythms, and point of view. I can make deliberate decisions about voice and tone in my own writing and explain how those choices serve my purpose.

Lesson 9: Reading Multimodal Texts

Outcomes: ELA30.5, ELA30.6

I can evaluate how a multimodal text — a film, documentary, graphic novel, or similar work — uses combinations of image, sound, and text to communicate a message and engage an audience. I can explain how changes to any one element would affect the overall meaning.

Lesson 10: Revision as Craft: Syntax and Convention

Outcomes: ELA30.13, ELA30.12

I can revise my own writing by examining sentence structure, punctuation, and language conventions and using them with intention to control pacing, emphasis, and clarity. I can identify patterns in my writing — both strengths and recurring errors — and make targeted changes.

UNIT 3: Argument, Truth, and Inquiry (Lessons 11–15)

Lesson 11: The Expository Essay: Explaining What You Know

Outcomes: ELA30.7, ELA30.8, ELA30.2

I can analyze how an expository text is organized to clearly explain a complex topic, and I can identify how the writer uses thesis, evidence, and transitions to guide a reader's understanding. I can write my own expository piece that explains a topic I know well, with a clear structure and objective tone.

Lesson 12: Who Gets to Be Believed? Media Literacy and Rhetorical Appeals

Outcomes: ELA30.14, ELA30.15

I can evaluate the credibility and reliability of media and digital texts by identifying how ethos, pathos, and logos are used, and sometimes manipulated, to shape what audiences believe. I can explain what makes a source trustworthy and what should make a reader cautious.

Lesson 13: The Art of Persuasion

Outcomes: ELA30.7, ELA30.8, ELA30.15

I can analyze the persuasive techniques in a speech, editorial, or op-ed, and explain how the writer uses rhetorical appeals and counterargument to influence an audience. I can write my own persuasive piece that takes a clear position, supports it with credible evidence, and acknowledges opposing views.

Lesson 14: Research and Evidence: Building an Argument

Outcomes: ELA30.15, ELA30.16, ELA30.14

I can develop a focused inquiry question, gather and evaluate credible evidence from multiple sources, and integrate that evidence into an original argument with proper attribution. I can explain why each source I used strengthens my position.

Lesson 15: Resistance and Reclamation: Stories That Push Back

Outcomes: ELA30.3, ELA30.4, ELA30.1

I can read works by Indigenous authors from Saskatchewan and the Prairies and explain how specific craft choices make those texts acts of cultural reclamation. I can identify how the writer's particular community, place, and voice resist stereotyping and challenge assumptions.

UNIT 4: Collaboration, Synthesis, and Independence (Lessons 16–20)

Lesson 16: Thinking Through a Text: Questions, Positions, and Deep Engagement

Outcomes: ELA30.17, ELA30.18

I can develop a set of substantive discussion questions about a complex text, write my own position statement, and work through at least two opposing viewpoints in writing. I can use my AI companion to test and push my thinking, and explain how that process deepened or changed my understanding of the text.

Lesson 17: Making a Multimodal Composition

Outcomes: ELA30.6, ELA30.5

I can plan and create a multimodal composition that deliberately combines at least two modes, such as text, image, sound, or movement ,to convey a unified message with clarity and intention. I can explain the specific choices I made and why each element earns its place in the piece.

Lesson 18: Breaking the Rules: Experimental Form and Genre Subversion

Outcomes: ELA30.9, ELA30.8, ELA30.10

I can identify when and how an author deliberately breaks genre conventions , disrupting structure, shifting tone, or refusing a tidy resolution, and explain what effect those choices create. I can make my own experimental choices in a composition and reflect on what they opened up or complicated.

Lesson 19: Your Inquiry: Essential Questions and Independent Composition

Outcomes: ELA30.16, ELA30.2, ELA30.12

I can develop a meaningful inquiry question, narrow it into a focused central message or argument, and plan and compose an original piece in a genre of my choosing. I can explain how my form, audience, and creative choices serve my central idea.

Lesson 20: Synthesis: Voices, Texts, and Yourself as a Writer

Outcomes: ELA30.1, ELA30.2, ELA30.4

I can draw connections across the texts, authors, and skills from this course to show how my thinking as a reader has deepened. I can write a final piece that reflects how I have grown as a writer and what I now understand about language, story, and my own voice.